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COMPUTATION OF TIME, AND CHANGES OF STYLE 
IN THE CALENDAR. 

ADDRESSED TO STUDENTS OP HISTORY AND GENEALOGY. 
BY SPENCER BONSALL. 

Julian and Gregorian Calendar. 

More than one hundred and twenty-five years have elapsed 
since the British Government ordained that a change should 
be made in the calendar, in order to prevent further errors 
in the chronological record of events, by the adoption of the 
Gregorian, or " New Style," of computing the length of the 
year, in place of the Julian, or "Old Style," then in use. 
This law applied to the American and all other colonies of 
the English Crown; yet there are but few persons, at the 
present time, who have a clear conception of the meaning of 
the above terms ; and, as the subject has seldom been treated, 
in the works of reference commonly used, in the manner it 
deserves, mistakes are frequently made, even by literary men, 
when writing of past events. 

It is unnecessary to enter into an examination of the various 
calendars that have been in vogue from time immemorial ; 
therefore, I will confine myself to the two now in use by 
Christian nations. 

The solar or tropical year is that period which corresponds 
to the sun's revolution in the ecliptic from any equinox or 
solstice to the same again. If the civil year corresponds with 
the solar, the seasons of the year will always occur at the 
same period. But prior to the Christian era, the Roman 
pontiffs, from self-interested motives, added to or took from 
the year capriciously, so as to lengthen or shorten the period 
during which a magistrate remained in oifice, and by this 
means created such irregularity, that in the days of Julius 
Caesar the spring season occurred in what the calendar called 
summer. 



0b „?6>7S' 



Changes of Style in the Calendar. 

According to Censorinus, quoted by Dr. Smith in his Dic- 
tionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, the confusion was 
at last carried so far that Caius Julius Caesar, the Pontifex 
Maximus, in his third Consulate, with Lepidus for his col- 
league, inserted between the months of November and Decem- 
ber two intercalary months, consisting, together, of 67 days, 
and to the month of February an intercalation of 23 days, 
which, added to the length of the previous year, 355 days, 
made the whole of that year 445 days, thus bringing the 
calendar to conform with the seasons. This year was called 
by Macrobius " the last year of confusion." 

Caesar now undertook the formation of a new calendar. 
With the assistance of Sosigenes, a famous Egyptian mathe- 
matician, he calculated the solar year, which he fixed at 365 
days and 6 hours ; and, to make allowance for the hours, he 
determined on the intercalation of one day in every four 
years, which, being a duplication of the 6th, before the Calends 
of March, was called the Bissextile, or twice sixth. That is, 
the day answering to the 24th of February was counted 
twice, both days having the same name, which also gives us 
our term of leap-year, which leaps over, as it were, one day 
more than there are days in a common year. 

This was the Julian method of computing time, the reckon- 
ing by which commenced in the 45th year B. C, and intro- 
duced our present arrangement of having three years of 365 
days, followed by one of 366, dividing the year into months 
nearly as at present. 

In A. D. 325, the first Ecumenical or General Council as- 
sembled at Nice, in Asia Minor, to deliberate and act on 
ecclesiastical matters. They composed the Nicene Creed, etc. 
etc., and fixed the days on which Easter and other movable 
feasts should be celebrated. At that date, the Yernal Equi- 
nox, the precise time when the days and nights are equal, fell 
on the 21st of March, although in the time of Julius Caesar 
that event happened on the 25th. Not knowing that the 
error was in the calendar, but supposing the former date to 
be correct, and that there would be no variation from it, 
the Council decreed that Easter day should be "the first 



Changes of Style in the Calendar. 

Sunday after the first full moon which happened next after 
the 21st of March. And if the full moon happens upon a 
Sunday, Easter day is the Sunday after." This rule is still 
in force. 

The calendar of Julius Csesar was found to be defective, for 
in the year 1582, the vernal equinox fell on the 11th, instead 
of the 21st of March. Pope Gregory XIII, assisted by seve- 
ral learned men, made a complete reformation of it. The 
Encyclopedia Britannica gives the name of the author of the 
system adopted as Aloysius Lilius, or Luigi Lilio Ghiraldi, a 
learned astronomer and physician of Naples. 

The solar or tropical year is found by observation to con- 
sist of 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 46.14912 1 seconds, 
which not being equal to the year of 365 days, 6 hours, upon 
which Julius Csesar established the leap-year (the difference, 
11 minutes, 14 seconds, amounting in about 128 years to a 
whole day), Gregory, assuming his fixed point of departure, 
not A. D. 1, but the year of the Council of Nice, A. D. 325, 
decreed that that year, 1582, should consist of 355 days only 
(October 5th became October 15th), thus dropping 10 days. 
And to prevent further irregularity, it was determined that 
a year, ending a century, should not be a leap-year, with the 
exception of that ending each fourth century. Thus 1700 
and 1800 have not been leap-years, nor will 1900 be so, but 
the year 2000 will be. That is, when a centesimal year is 
divisible by 400, without a remainder, it is a leap-year, and 
when there is a remainder, the year consists of 365 days only. 
In this manner, three days are retrenched in 400 years, be- 
cause the lapse of 11 minutes and 14 seconds makes three days 
in about that period. All other years in the century divisible 
by 4, without a remainder, are likewise leap-years. The Bull 
which effected this change was issued February 24, 1582. 

1 I am indebted to Professors Nourse and Hall, of the United States Naval 
Observatory, Washington, D. C, for the exact length of the solar or tropical 
year, which is given, from the most reliable data, as 365.2422008 days = 365 
d. 5 h. 48 min. 46.14912 sec. This varies a few seconds from previous cal- 
culations, affecting only the length of time when the difference will amount 
to a day. 



Changes of Style in the Calendar. 

The year of the calendar is thus made, as nearly as possible, 
to correspond with the true solar year, and future errors in 
chronology will be avoided, as the difference will not amount 
to much more than a day in 3342 years, or until A. D. 3667, 
counting from the Council of Nice. 

The Catholic nations, in general, adopted the style ordained 
by their sovereign pontiff, 1 but the greater part of the Pro- 
testants, with the exception of a portion of the Netherlands, 
were then too much inflamed against Catholicism, in all its 
relations, to receive even a purely scientific improvement 
from such a source. The Lutherans of Germany, Switzerland, 
and the remaining parts of the Low Countries at length gave 
way in 1700, when it had become necessary to omit eleven in- 
stead of ten days, in consequence of their having made that 
year a leap-year. 

It was not until 1751, and after great inconvenience had 
been experienced for nearly two centuries from the difference 
of reckoning, that an act was passed (24 Geo. II. c. 23, 1751) 
for equalizing the style in Great Britain, Ireland, and the 
Colonies with that used in other countries of Europe. It was 
then enacted that eleven nominal days should be omitted ; the 
last day of Old Style being Wednesday the 2d, and the first 
of New Style (the next day) Thursday the 14th, instead of the 
3d of September, 1752, and the legal year, which had pre- 
viously been held to begin with the 25th of March, was made 
to begin on the 1st of January. The Gregorian regulation of 
dropping one day in every hundredth year, except the fourth 
hundred, was also included. 

The alteration was for a long time opposed by the prejudices 
of individuals; and even now, in some instances, in England, 
the old style is so pertinaciously adhered to, that rents are 
made payable on the old quarter days, instead of the new. 

Assuming the Calendar to have been correct at the time of 
the Council of Nice, the first centesimal year, A. D. 400, which 
occurred only seventy-five years later, should not have been 
made a leap-year, but as it was, the first excess of one day 

1 Chambers's Encyclopaedia. 



Changes of Style in the Calendar. 

took place. The following table, omitting the centuries 800, 
1200, and 1600, which were properly leap-years, will show the 
difference which must be allowed in the respective periods, 
for changing Old Style to New Style : — 

From March 1st. A. D. 400 to March 1st, A. D. 500, omit 1 day 



500 to 


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Sept. 


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< 1752, ' 


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The change of eleven days in the last century, required to 
reduce old style to new, has been the cause of many mistakes, 
made by thoughtless persons, who apply that difference to all 
past time. All events require a correction, respective of the 
time of their occurrence. For example : Columbus discovered 
America on Friday, the 12th day of October, 1492, O. S., by 
the "New Style this event happened on Friday, October 21, 
1492, a difference of nine days only being made, as will be 
observed by reference to the table. Again, William Penn 
" arrived before the town of New Castle, in Delaware," on 
Friday, October 27, 1682, O. EL, which reduced to K S. is 
Friday, November 6th, ten days being then the difference, and 
in the next century, to take a familiar example, Washington 
was born on Friday, the 11th of February, 1732, and, as all 
the world knows, we celebrate the anniversary of his birth on 
the 22d of February, in this case properly omitting eleven days, 
as required by the act of Parliament. 

Russia, 1 and the countries following the communion of the 

1 As this article was being prepared, the following appeared in the papers 
of the day : — 

Associated Press Despatch. 

London, June 21, 1878. — According to a Warsaw letter, the Gregorian 
Calendar is likely to be adopted in Russia. The Council of State and the 
Ministers have, for some time, been using both the old and new styles. 



Changes of Style in the Calendar. 

Greek Church, are now the only ones which adhere to the 
Old Style, an adherence which renders it necessary, when a 
letter is thence addressed to a person in another country, that 
the date should be given thus: April ^ or ^yf, for it 
will be observed that the year 1800, not being a Gregorian 
leap-year, has interjected another (or twelfth) day between 
old and new style. Earlier examples of double-dating may 
be found in the " Documents relating to the Colonial History 
of New York," vol. III., thus -, 9 g th of 9 ber , and ££■ 10 ber , 
1665, etc. etc. The months September, October, November, 
and December, were frequently written 7 ber , 8 ber , 9 ber , and 
10 ber , or in Roman numerals. Also in " Macaulay's History 
of England," in the foot-notes to Chapter IV., thus: Feb. 
3 (13), April 18 (28), May 28 (June 7), 1685, etc. etc. 

Calendar of the " Society of Friends." 

The numerical designation of the months used by the 
Society of Friends did not originate with them. In the 
calendar of Julius Caesar the months were not only named, 
but were also numbered, thus: — 

10. December. 

11. January. 

12. February. 

We find in early records, long before the advent of the 
Society of Friends, that dates were frequently given, in which 
the number of the month only was used, in accordance with 
the above arrangement. 1 

1 In the distribution of the days through the several months, Julius Caesar 
adopted a simpler and more convenient arrangement than that which has 
since prevailed. He had ordered that the first, third, fifth, seventh, ninth, 
and eleventh months, that is March, May, July, September, November, and 
January should each have 31 days, and the other months 30. excepting the 
twelfth month, February, which in common years should have only 29, but 
every fourth year 30 days. This order was broken to gratify the vanity of 
Augustus, by giving the sixth month, "bearing his name, as many days 
as July, which was named after the first Caesar. A day was accordingly 
taken from February and given to August; and in order that three months 



1. March. 


4. June. 7. September. 


2. April. 


5. July. 8. October. 


3. May.' 


6. August. 9. November. 



Changes of Style in the Calendar. 

Soon after the arrival of William Perm in this country, 
numerous laws were enacted for the government of the Pro- 
vince. Among them was one relating to the days of the week, 
and the months of the year, which is here given verbatim from 
the original MS. document, in possession of " The Historical 
Society of Pennsylvania," and which is entitled: — 

" The great Law or the Body of Lawes of the Province of 
Pennsylvania and Territories thereunto belonging Past at 
an Assembly held at Chester (alias upland) the 7th day of 
y e 10th month, called December 1682." 

The 35th section is as follows: — 

" 35. And Be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid 
that the dayes of the Week and y e months of the year shall 
be called as in Scripture, & not by Heathen names (as are 
vulgarly used) as the first Second and third days of y e Week 
and first second and third months of y e year and beginning 
with y e Day called Sunday and the month called March. 5 ' 1 

At the time the English Government passed the act requir- 
ing a change from old style to new, it became necessary for the 
Society of Friends to take action on the subject, which they 
did in this manner: — ■ 

" Extracts from the Minutes of the Yearly Meeting held at 
Philadelphia for Pennsylvania & New Jersey from the 14th 
to the 18th day of the Seventh Month (inclusive), 1751. 

" Began Business on the 17th, being the third day of the 
Week. 

"Israel Pemberton, Caleb Cowpland, Ennion Williams, 
Daniel Smith, Ebenezer Hopkins, & Joseph Parker are ap- 
pointed to adjust the Accounts, and report the state thereof 
to-morrow. 

of 31 days each might not come together, September and November were 
reduced to 30 days, and 31 given to October and December. 

1 It would appear from this, as though the year was to have commenced 
on the 1st day of March, and it is so stated by Hazard, in a foot-note on page 
57, vol. 1, of the " Minutes of the Provincial Council of Penna." That this 
was not the case, may be seen by reference to " Yotes of the Assembly of 
Penna.," to the Journal of George Fox, founder of the Society of Friends, 
and to the writings of William Penn, where double-dating is always used 
until the 25th of March, the commencement of another year. 



Changes of Style in the Calendar. 

"On the 18th 

" The Clerk is directed with the Extracts of the Minutes 
of this Meeting to send Copies of the written Epistle from 
the Yearly Meeting of London, this year, directed to the 
Quarterly & Monthly Meetings of Friends in general. 

"Agreed, that Friends within the Compass of this Yearly 
Meeting should concur with the Minute of the Yearly Meet- 
ing in London concerning the Method of computing time as 
prescribed by a late Act of Parliament, which minute is as 
follows, Viz fc : — 

" Agreed, that, as by the late Act of Parliament for regu- 
" lating the Commencement of the Year, it is ordered, that 
"the first day of the Eleventh Month next, shall be deemed 
" the first day of the Year 1752, and that the month called 
" January shall be successively accounted the first month of 
" the Year, and not the Month called March, as heretofore 
" hath been our Method of Computing. 

" That from and after the time above mentioned, the Eleventh 
" month called January, shall thenceforward be deemed & 
" reckoned the First month of every year, & to be so styled 
"in all the Records & Writings of Friends, instead of com- 
" puting from the month called March, according to our pre- 
" sent Practice : And Friends are recommended to go on with 
" the Names of the following months numerically according 
" to our Practice from the beginning, so that the Months may 
"be called & written as follows, That named January to 
" be called and written the first month, and February to be 
" called and written the Second Month, & so on. All other 
" Methods of computing or calling the months unavoidably 
" leading into Contradiction. 

" And Whereas for the more regular computation of Time 
" the same Act directs, that in the Month now called Sep- 
" tember, which will be in the year 1752 after the second day 
" of the said month, Eleven nominal Days shall be omitted 
" and that which would have been the third shall be reckoned 
"& Esteemed the fourteenth day of the said month, & that 
" which would otherwise have been the fourth day of the said 
" month must be deemed the Fifteenth, & so on. It appears 



Changes of Style in the Calendar. 

u likewise necessary that Friends should conform themselves 
" to this direction and omitt the Eleven nominal days accord- 
" ingly." 

" Business being Ended, The Meeting adjourned to Burling- 
ton on the 24th day of the Ninth Month in the next Year 
according to this new Method of Computing of Time, which 
w T ill be on the Second First day of the Week, in the month by 

Law called September. 

Extracted & Examined 

by 

ISR. PEMBERTON, 

Junr Clk." 

According to both the Julian and Gregorian calendars, 
January has always been January, but to change the eleventh 
month to the first, and the twelfth to the second is making 
"confusion worse confounded," particularly to genealogists 
who wish to reduce dates of births and deaths from old style 
to new. 

It may be difficult for some persons to Understand the last 
paragraph of the preceding " Extracts," how the 24th of the 
Ninth Month (September) could be the Second First day of 
the week (Sunday) occurring in the month. It must be re- 
membered, that the last day of Old Style was Wednesday, the 
2d, and the first day of New Style, the next day, Thursday, 
the 14th of September (or Ninth Month), the change only 
affecting the numerical order of the days of the month, the 
names of the days of the week continuing as though no alte- 
ration had been made; consequently the first Sunday (or First 
day of the week) in the month happened on the 17th, and the 
second on the 24th ; the month, by the dropping of 11 days, 
consisting of 19 days only. 

Ecclesiastical and Historical Year. 

In England, as early as the 7th century, the year began on 
the 25th of December, or Christmas day, and this date was 
used by most persons until the 13th century. But in the 12th 
century, the Anglican Church required that their year should 
commence on the 25th of March (Annunciation, or Lady-Day). 
This rule was adopted by the Civilians in the 14th century, 



Changes of Style in the Calendar. 

and was adhered to until 1752. It was known as the Eccle- 
siastical, Legal, or Civil year. The 1st of January, however, 
had been considered as the beginning of the Historical year 
from the time of the Conquest, A. D. 1066, and in Scotland 
from A. D. 1600. This difference caused great practical in- 
convenience, and consequently double-dating was usually re- 
sorted to, for time between the 1st of January and the 25th 
of March, thus: February, or 12th mo. 6th 168J, or 1684-5, 
as we often find in old records. This date in JSTew Style 
would correspond to February, or 2d month, 16th, 1685, the 
lower or last figure representing the Historical year, ac- 
cording to our present mode of computation, commencing 
with the 1st of January ; and the upper or first figure the 
Ecclesiastical or civil year, beginning with the 25th of March. 
Without this method of double-dating it would be difficult 
to know which year was intended, particularly for time be- 
tween the 1st and 25th of March. There are instances, how- 
ever, in which double-dating for the above months was not 
used; in such cases the year, as given, must be taken as com- 
mencing on the 1st of January. This system was adopted, 
occasionally, in each country earlier than the Gregorian or 
New Style. 

In changing the days of the month from old style to new, 
add to them the figures 9, 10, 11, or as the case may be in the 
respective periods of the preceding table ; always remember- 
ing that in the numerical arrangement of the months, the 
First month represented March, and so on, previous to the 
year 1752 in Great Britain and her colonies. 1 

It is, however, particularly recommended, that dates should 
not be changed, in any case, but that the letters 0. S. be added, 
when necessary. This will relieve Historians, and others, 
from much perplexity, as they can make their own calcula- 
tions. 2 

1 For the date of change in other countries, see next number of the 
Magazine. 

2 A work entitled "Memorials of John Bartram and Humphrey Marshall," 
Philadelphia, 1849, furnishes a case in point. It is devoted almost exclu> 
sively to a correspondence between members of the Society of Friends, in 
the early part of the last century, who used the numerical method of dating, 



Changes of Style in the Calendar. 

Dominical Letters. 

It is sometimes of the greatest importance that we should 
know on what day of the week a certain event took place (or 
may happen in the future), or, having the day of the week, 
what day of the month will correspond to it. Numerous in- 
tricate methods of calculation have been suggested at various 
times for solving this difficulty. The use of the following 
table will save all that trouble and waste of time, and a few 
minutes' attention will make any person perfectly familiar 
with it. 

The first seven letters of the alphabet, A, B, C, D, E, F, Gr, 
have been employed by chronologists to designate the several 
days of the week, the first letter standing for the first day of 
January, and so on, and since one of these letters must neces- 
sarily stand opposite to Sunday, it is called the Dominical or 
Sunday letter. When January begins on Sunday, the domini- 
cal letter for that year is A, and, as the common year consists 
of 52 weeks and 1 day, the year must begin and end on the 
same day of the week; and the next year must begin on 
Monday, therefore Sunday will be the seventh day, and the 
letter G- will be the dominical letter. The third year will 
begin on Tuesday, and, as Sunday falls on the sixth day, F 
will be the dominical letter. Hence it follows that the do- 
minical letters will succeed each other in a retrograde order, 
Viz., G, F, E, D, C, B, A, and if there was no leap-year, the 
same day of the week would, in the course of seven years, 
return to the same days of the month. But since a leap-year 
contains 52 weeks and 2 days, any leap-year beginning on 
Sunday will end on Monday, and the following year will begin 
on Tuesday, the first Sunday of which must fall on the sixth 
day of January, to which the dominical letter F corresponds, 
and not G-, as in common years. As the leap-year returns 

beginning the year with the 1st month, or March. The editor has changed 
this, by naming the first month January, and consequently has dated a greater 
part of the letters two months before they were written, and births and 
deaths two months before they occurred. This is certainly a new style, and 
not uncommon among our younger genealogists. 



Changes of Style in the Calendar. 

every fourth year, the regular succession of the dominical letter 
is interrupted. Its next recurrence can be found by dividing 
the year by 4 (see example below, with the dominical letter 
F ; the lower figures representing the remainders), if there 
be no remainder, the interval to the next year will be 6 years; 
if 2 remain it will be 11 years ; if 1 remain it will be 6 years, 
and if 3 remain the interval will be 5 years. 



GF. F. F. 


F. 


GF. F. 


F. F. 


1844 + 6 = 1850 + 11 = 1861 + 6 


= 18G7 + 5 = 


. 1872 + 6=1878 + 11 = 


= 1889+6 = 1895 + & 


2 1 


3 


2 


1 3~ 



The cycle of recurrence is, therefore, 6, 11, 6, 5, except as 
modified by the centesimal years. 

I have been thus explicit, as I cannot find that any writer 
has mentioned the above fact. They all appear to be unani- 
mous in the statement, that the Solar Cycle, a period of 28 
years, is the only time when the same days of the week will 
correspond to the same days of the month. Previous to the 
change of style in 1752, 28 years always elapsed between any 
two leap-years having the same dominical letters, but since 
that time the rule will answer only for the leap-years of each 
century separately. 

Immediately above, or preceding every leap-year in the 
table, there is a blank space, and in a line with it, under the 
century, will be found the dominical letter that must be 
used for the months of January and February, and in a 
line with the year, the letter to be used for the remainder of 
the leap-year; thus 1876 has B and A, 1880 D and C, 1884 
F and E, etc. This, with the explanation at the top of the 
table, should enable any one to prove its aeouracy by com- 
parison with almanacs, either in the old or new style, or with 
books and newspapers. 1 

The year 1752, on account of the change of style, had three 
dominical letters. E from Wednesday, January 1st, to Satur- 
day, February 29 th ; D from Sunday, March 1st, to Wednes- 
day, September 2d; and A from Thursday, September 14th 
(when New Style was adopted), to the close of the year. 

1 A table similar to this, but not so extended, appeared in the N. E. His- 
torical and Genealogical Kegister, vol. xx. 1866. It was communicated by 
Isaac J. Greenwood, of New York. 



Changes of Style in the Calendar. 



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(To be continued.) 



COMPUTATION OF TIME, AND CHANGES OF STYLE 
IN THE CALENDAR. 

ADDRESSED TO STUDENTS OF HISTOBY AND GENEALOGY. 

BY SPENCER BONSALL. 

(Concluded from Vol. II. page 394.) 

In the preparation of this article it was necessary to con- 
sult a number of works of reference for the purpose of com- 
paring the statements of the best authorities on the subject. 
Information of great importance, to the student of history, 
in fixing and verifying dates, was found scattered in the 
volumes consulted, and, for convenience of reference, the 
notes taken are now given in a more condensed form. 

The "New Style," or Gregorian calendar, was adopted 
generally, in Roman Catholic countries, immediately after 
its promulgation, A. D. 1582. Most Protestant countries, 
however, continued for a longer or shorter period to use the 
"Old Style," or Julian calendar. It is necessary, therefore, 
in dealing critically with dates after 1582, to ascertain what 
"Style" was in use, at the time and place in question. The 
following table, compiled principally from "L'Art de verifier 
les Dates," by M. de Saint- Allais, Paris, 1818, "The Chro- 
nology of History," by Sir Harris Nicolas, K.C.M.G-., London, 
1852, and "Handy-Book of Rules and Tables for Verifying 
Dates with the Christian Era," etc., by John J. Bond, Assist- 
ant Keeper of the Public Records, London, 1869, will serve 
to show when the chief States of Europe adopted the "New 
Style." As Mr. Bond had peculiar facilities for procuring 
correct information regarding the changes in many of the 
countries, and as his book is the latest authority to which I 
have had access, I have, when any doubt existed, preferred 
his dates to those of others. 



Computation of Time, 



In Spain,' Portugal, and the 
greater part of Italy, the 

same day as at Rome and 
Milan. 

In France 2 and Lorraine. 3 

In Germany 4 and Switzerland 5 
(by Roman Catholics). 

In Savoy. 6 

Iu the Roman Catholic Ne- 
therlands, 7 viz., Brabant, 
Limbourg, Luxembourg, 
Gelderland (in part) — 
Duchies. Flanders, Artois, 
Hainault, Namur — Coun- 
ties. Antwerp {called the 
Marquisette of the Holy 
Empire). Malines — Lord- 
ship. 

In the Protestant Nether- 
lands, 8 Holland and Zea- 
land, viz., Rotterdam, Am- 
sterdam, Leyden, Delft, 
Haerlem, and the Hague. 

In Prussia 9 (date of introduc- 
tion not fixed). 

In Poland. 10 

In Hungary 11 (date of intro- 
duction not fixed). 

In Strasbourg. 12 

In Denmark, 13 and Protestant 
States of Germany. 14 

In Overyssel 15 or Overijsel 
(date not fixed). 

In Gelderland 16 or Guelder- 
land. 

In Utrecht. 17 

In Friesland 18 or Yriesland. 

In Groningen, 19 and Protest- 
ant parts of Switzerland. 20 

In Tuscany 21 (date of intro- 
duction not fixed). 

In Great Britain, 22 Ireland, 
and the Colonies. 

In Sweden. 23 



*| Old Style ended 
on— 

1 Thu. 4 Oct. 1582. 



Sun. 9 Dec. 1582. 



} Fri. 21 Dec. 1582. 



Tue. 21 Dec. 1585. 



Sat. 18 Feb. 1682. 
Sun. 18 Feb. 1700. 



Wed. 19 June, 1700. 

Tue. 19 Nov. 1700. 
Fri. 20 Dec. 1700. 

Tue. 31 Dec. 1700. 



Wed. 2 Sept. 1752. 
Sun. 28 Feb. 1753. 



New Style hegan 
next day — 

Fri. 15 Oct. 1582. 
Mon. 20 Dec. 1582. 



Sat. Uan. 1583. 



1583. 

Wed. Uan. 1586. 

1587. 

Sun. 1 Mar. 1682. 

Mon. 1 Mar. 1700. 

1700. 

Thu. lJuly 1700. 

Wed. 1 Dec. 1700. 

Sat. Uan. 1701. 

Wed. 12 Jan. 1701. 

1751. 

Thu. 14 Sept. 1752. 

Mon. 12 Mar. 1753. 



1 Spain, etc. Bull of Pope Gregory XIII., 24th Feb. 1582. 

3 France. Pursuant to edict of Henry III., dated 3d Nov. 1582. 

3 Lorraine. Orders of those who had the spiritual authority in the name 
of the Bishop, Charles de Lorraine, Nov. 24th, 1582. See V 'Art de verifier les 
Dates. 

* Germany. * Switzerland. e Savoy. Authority not given. See Bond's 
Handy- Book. 

1 Roman Catholic Netherlands. Proclamation of the Court 22d December, 
1582. 

8 Protestant Netherlands. By edict or Plakaet of 10 Dec. 1582 (entered in 



Computation of Time, 

YEARS, MONTHS, AND WEEKS. 

Year (Mosso-Gothic^er; Anglo-Saxon, gear; Dutch, jarr; 
Friesic, jer; German, jahrj Danish, aar; Swedish, ar; Ice- 

the Great Plakaet boek, I. 395, in the Record Office of the Hague), the intro- 
duction of the New Style was fixed for the 15th of December, 1582 ; but 
afterwards settled, by a resolution of the States of Holland, to begin on the 
1st of January, 1583. 

The other provinces only adopted the measure about the year 1700. 
• Prussia. " State Papers. — Prussian, 1586." 

10 Poland. " State Papers, Cracow, 3 January, 1586, Stylo novo." 

11 Hungary. The Diet of Presburg, held in the presence of the Archduke 
Ernest, 1587. 

,a Strasbourg. Through the exertions of M. de la Grange, inteudant of 
Alsace, Feb. 5th, 1682. L'Art de verifier les Dates. 

11 Denmark. "State Papers, Copenhagen, 2d May, 1702, S. N." {Stylo 
novo.) 

14 Protestant States of Germany. On the 15th Nov. 1699, the old Calendar 
was universally abandoned within the empire ; and a new one, framed by a 
celebrated mathematician named Weigel, was adopted, which differed only 
from the Gregorian as to the mode of fixing Easter and the Movable Feasts, 
so that it sometimes happened that the Protestants and Catholics celebrated 
that feast on a different day. 

14 Overyssel (date of introduction not fixed). By resolution, dated 4 April, 
1700. 

10 Gelderland. In accordance with a resolution of the States, dated 26 
May, 1700. (Geld. Plakaet boek, III. 27.) 

J1 Utrecht. By the resolution dated 24 July, 1700. . ( Utrecht Plakaet boek, 
1.457.) 
" Friesland. By resolution dated 11 and 12 October, 1700. 
19 Groningen. In consequence of a resolution of the States General, of 6 
February, 1700. 

50 Protestant parts of Switzerland refused the New Style until 1700, when 
Weigel's Calendar was received by those of the cantons of Zurich, Berne, 
Basle, and Schaffhausen, who commenced the year 1701 on the 12th Jan. 
N. S. 

31 Tuscany. By the Emperor of Germany, as grand-duke of Tuscany. 
(Gentleman's Magazine, vol. xxi. p. 93.) 
23 Great Britain, &c. Pursuant to Statute 24 Geo. II. c. 23, 1751. 
" By edict of the King 24th Feb. 1752. L'Art de verifier les Dates. 

Bond states, that "The Gregorian, or New Style, was adopted gradu- 
ally after 1696. The King of Sweden, fearing that striking off ten 
days at once, might prove prejudicial to commercial transactions, 
adopted the New Style gradually, by making no Leap-year after 1696 
until 1744, by which plan 11 days were dropped. The eleven inter- 
mediate 'fourth years' having thus only 365 days each, made the 
year 1744 the same as other countries where the New Style had been 
adopted." According to this arrangement, New Style would have 
commenced on Tuesday, 1 March, 1740. 



Computation of Time. 

landic, ar; Sanscrit, jahran^ a course, or circle, to move in a 

circle). 

Year, in the full extent of the word, is a system, or cycle 
of several months, usually twelve. Some writers define it as 
a period or space of time, measured by the revolution of some 
celestial body in its orbit. Thus the time in which the fixed 
stars make a revolution is called the great year ; and the 
times in which Jupiter, Saturn, the Sun, Moon, etc. complete 
their courses, and return to the same point of the zodiac, are 
respectively called the years of Jupiter, and Saturn, and the 
Solar and Lunar years, etc. 1 

It is stated in Hutton's " Philosophical and Mathematical 
Dictionary," that a year, originally, denoted a revolution, and 
was not limited to that of tt^ sun. Accordingly, we find by 
the oldest accounts, that people have, at different times, ex- 
pressed other revolutions by it, particularly that of the moon ; 
and consequently, that the years of some accounts are to be 
reckoned only months, and sometimes periods of two, or 
three, or four months. This will assist us greatly in under- 
standing the traditions that certain nations give of their own 
antiquity, and perhaps also of the great age of men. We 
read expressly in several of the old Greek writers, that the 
Egyptian year, at one period, was only a month • and we are 
also told that at other periods it was three months, or four 
months ; and it is probable that the children of Israel fol- 
lowed the Egyptian mode of computing their years. The 
Egyptians boasted, nearly two thousand years ago, that 
they had historical records of events, happening forty-eight 
thousand years before that period. This statement was evi- 
dently intended to deceive the Greeks, with the design of 
making them believe that they, the Eg} r ptians, were the most 
ancient nation, an ambition which the Chinese attempt, at 
present, to imitate, striving to impress us with the idea that 
they are the oldest people on the earth. Both the present 
and the early imposters have pretended to ancient observa- 
tions of the heavenly bodies, and recounted eclipses, in par- 
ticular, to vouch for the truth of their statements. Since the 

1 Ephraim Chambers's Cyclopaedia, 1741. 



Computation of Time, 



time in which the solar year, or period of the earth's revo- 
lution round the sun, has been received, we may calculate 
with certainty ; but, in regard to those remote ages, in which 
we do not precisely know what is meant by the term year, it 
is impossible to form any satisfactory conjecture of the dura- 
tion of time, as computed by the ancients in their chronicles. 

The Babylonians pretend to an antiquity of the same fabu- 
lous kind ; they boast of forty-seven thousand years in which 
they had kept observations ; but we may judge of these as 
of the others. The Egyptians speak of the stars having four 
times altered their courses in that period which they claim 
for their history, and that the sun set twice in the east. They 
were not such perfect astronomers but that, after a round- 
about voyage, they might perhaps mistake the east for the 
west, when they came in again, particularly as the use of the 
mariner's compass was unknown to them. 

The tropical or solar year, properly, and by way of emi- 
nence so-called, is the space of time in which the sun moves 
through the twelve signs of the zodiac. This, by observa- 
tions of the best modern astronomers, contains 365 d. 5 h. 
48 m. 46.14912 seconds. The quantity assumed by the au- 
thors of the Gregorian calendar was 365 d. 5 h. 49 m., which 
corresponds exactly with the observations of Bianchini, and 
de La Hire, in the next century. In the civil, or popular 
account, the year contains 365 days, with an additional day 
every four years. 

The excess of the solar year over 365 days has been given 
by different astronomers as follows: — 

Meton and Euctemon 5th Century B. C. 



Hipparchus . 


2d 


Sosigenes 


1st 


Albategnius 


9th 


Alphonsine Tables 


13th 


Copernicus . 


16th 


Tycho Brahe 


<< 


Kepler 


. 17th 


Halley . 


<< 


Lalande 


. 18th 


Delarabre 


" 


Laplace 


<< 


Hind, 1850 . 


19th 



A.D. 



6 h. 18 m. 57 
5h. 55 m. 12 
6h. m. 
5 h. 46 m. 24 
5 h. 49 in. 16 
5h. 49 in. 6 
5h. 48 m. 45.5 
5h. 48 m. 57.65 
5h. 48 m. 54.691 
5 h. 48 m. 35.5 
5 h. 48 m. 51.6 
5 h. 48 m. 49.7 
5 h. 48 m. 46.2 



sec. 



Computation of Time. 

Month (Gothic, menath; Anglo-Saxon, monalh, from mona, 
the moon; German, monat; Dutch, maand; Danish, maaucd; 
Swedish, manad). 

The next convenient division of time, which is marked 
out by the revolutions of the heavenly bodies, is the month. 
The astronomical month is the period of time in which the 
moon performs a complete revolution round the heavens, 
and is either periodical or synodical. The periodical month is 
the time in which the moon moves from one point of the 
heavens to the same point again, and is equal to 27 d. 7 h. 
43 m. 47 seconds ; and the synodical month, or lunation, as it 
is sometimes called, is that portion of time which elapses be- 
tween two successive new moons, or between two successive 
conjunctions of the moon with the sun, and is equal to 29 d. 
12 h. 44 m. 3.19 seconds. The solar month is that portion of 
time in which the sun moves through one entire sign of the 
zodiac, the mean quantity of which is 30 d. 10 h. 29 m. 
3.84576 seconds, being the twelfth part of the solar year. 

Week (Anglo-Saxon, weoc; Dutch, week; German woche; 
Danish, uge; Swedish, vecka). 

The subdivision of the month into weeks is very ancient, 
and has been adopted by almost all nations, excepting the 
ancient Greeks, the inhabitants of the north of China, the 
Persians, and the Mexicans. It originated with the ancient 
Chaldeans, who gave the name of one of the seven planets to 
each hour of the day, and designated each day by the name 
of that planet which corresponded with the first hour of the 
day. In order to understand this, the order of the planets 
must be given upon the Ptolemaic system, that is, in the 
order of their distances from the earth, beginning with the 
most distant: Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, the Sun, Venus, Mer- 
cury, and the Moon. Commencing with Saturn, on the first 
hour of the first day, and allotting to each hour a planet, in 
the order named, the first hour of the second day, it is found, 
would fall to the Sun; of the third day, to the Moon; of the 
fourth, to Mars; of the fifth, to Mercury; of the sixth, to 
Jupiter ; and of the seventh, to Venus. 1 

1 Edinburgh Encyclopaedia. 



Computation of Time. 

The Latins adopted these designations in their names of 
the days of the week. They are to be found in old law books 
and M&S., and are still used by the learned professions through- 
out Europe. 

Occasionally, the signs only of the planets were used, for 
the sake of brevity, particularly in diaries and journals. This 
is notably the case in the original MS. field-book of Mason 
and Dixon's survey of the boundary line between Pennsyl- 
vania and Maryland, 1763 to 1768, in possession of the His- 
torical Society of Pennsylvania. In this book the name of 
each day of the week is represented by the sign, in addition 
to the usual dates, for a period of over four years. See, also, 
" Minutes of the Provincial Council of Pennsylvania" (Colo- 
nial Records), vol. ii. pages 90 to 96, etc. etc. In the latter 
part of vol i. (same Records) the Latin names of the days 
were used. 

Our Saxon ancestors, before their conversion to Christianity, 
named the seven days of the week from the sun and moon, 
and some of their deified heroes, to whom they were pecu- 
liarly consecrated, and representing the ancient gods or planets ; 
which names we have received, and still retain. 



Latin. 


Signs. 


English. 


Anglo-Saxon. 


Presided over by 


Dies Saturni 


h 


Saturday 


Ssetern-daeg 


Saturn 


Dies Solis 





Sunday 


Sunnan-dseg 


The Sun 


Dies Lunse 


D 


Monday 


Monan-daeg 


The Moon 


Dies Martis 


% 


Tuesday 


Tiwes-daeg 


Mars 


Dies Mercurii 


V 


Wednesday 


"Wodnes-dseg 


Mercury 


Dies Jovis 


% 


Thursday 


Thors-dseg 


Jupiter 


Dies Veneris 


? 


Friday 


Frigas-dseg 


Venus 



In some ancient documents we find the equivalent terms, 
Dies Sabbati for Saturday, and Dies Dominica for Sunday. 
Tiw, Tyw, Tuisto or Tuesco, the Saxon Mars, or God of war. 
Woden or Odin, a Scandinavian chief or deity, the reputed 
author of magic, and the inventor of all the arts, and was 
thought to answer to the Mercury of the Greeks and Romans. 
Thor was the god of thunder, as well as the ancient Jove. 
Friga, Freya, or Freja was the Scandinavian Yenus ; she was 
the wife of Thor, and goddess of peace, fertility, and riches. 

This order of the days, first adopted by the Chaldeans, w^as 



Computation of Time, 

preserved by the Mosaic law. The Christians, however, began 
their week on Sunday, and the Mahometans on Friday. 

Calendar of the French Republic from 1792 to 1806. 

Although Encyclopaedias and other works mention the 
French Republican Calendar, and in some cases attempt to 
give copies of it, I have yet to find, in the English language, 
a correct exemplar, or one that can be used for practical pur- 
poses. The Calendar here given may be relied on for perfect 
accuracy in every particular, as it lias been prepared directly 
from the " Almanach National de France," and the " Gazette 
Rationale, ou Le Moniteur Universel." 

The zeal for innovation which accompanied the French 
revolution, induced the rulers to change their calendar along 
with their government. It was decreed by the [National 
Convention, in the autumn of 1793, that the vulgar era 
should be abolished in all civil concerns ; that the new French 
era should be reckoned from the foundation of the republic, 
September 22, 1792, of the vulgar era, on the day of the true 
autumnal equinox; that each year should begin on the mid- 
night of the day on which the autumnal equinox falls ; and 
that the first year of the French republic had begun imme- 
diately after 12 o'clock P.M. of the 21st of September, 1792, 
and had terminated on the midnight between the 21st and 22d 
of September, 1793. In order to effect a correspondence be- 
tween the seasons and the civil year, it was decreed that the 
fourth year of the republic should be the first sextile, or leap 
year, that a sixth complementary day should be added to it, and 
that it should terminate the first Franciade; that the sextile, 
or leap year, should take place every four years, and should 
mark the close of each Franciade ; that the first, second, and 
third centesimal years, viz. 100, 200, and 300 of the republic, 
should be common, and that the fourth, viz. 400, should be 
sextile ; and this should be the case every four centuries until 
the fortieth, which should terminate with a common year. 

It was intended that the year should have been divided 
into ten parts, conformably to the decimal system : but, in 
taking the divisions of the months, the twelve revolutions of 



Computation of Time. 

the moon round the earth made it absolutely necessary to 
admit twelve months. These were named after the seasons 
to which they belonged. 

H r Vend6miaire Vintage month September 22 to October 21 30 days 

5 \ Brumaire Foggy month October 22 " Nov. 20 30 " 

^ (.Frimaire Frosty month November 21 " Dec. 20 CO " 

^ r Nivose Snowy month December 21 " Jan. 19 30 " 

o \ Pluviose Rainy month January 20 " Feb. 18 30 " 

^ I Ventose Windy month February 19 " March 20 30 " 

u f Germinal Germinating month March 21 u April 19 30 " 

•g \ Floreal Flowery month April 20 " May 19 30 " 

« I Prairial Meadow month May 20 " June 18 30 " 

g r Messidor Harvest month June 19 " July 18 30 " 

| \ Thermidor Hot month July 19 " August 17 30 " 

m { Fructidor Fruit month August 18 " Sept. 16 30 " 

As the French months consisted of 30 days each, making 
in all 360 days, the remaining five days required to complete 
the year were called complementary days and sans-culotiides. 
They were named as follows : — 

1. Primedi F6te de la Yertu The Virtues Sept. 17th 

2. Duodi F6te du G6nie Genius " 18th 

3. Tridi Fete du Travail Labor " 19th 

4. Quartidi Fete de l'Opinion Opinion 1 " 20th 

5. Quintidi F6te des B-eeompenses Kewards " 21st 

The intercalary day of every fourth year was called La 
sans-culottide, and was to be the Festival of the Revolution, 
to be dedicated to a grand solemnity, in which the French 
should celebrate the period of their enfranchisement, and the 
institution of the Republic. The National oath, "To live 
free or die," was to be renewed. 

Each day was divided according to the decimal system, 
into ten parts or hours, and these into ten others, and so on. 

Each month was divided into three decades, each consist- 

1 "This festival, absolutely original, and perfectly adapted to the French 
character, was to be a sort of political carnival of twenty-four hours, during 
which people should be allowed to say or to write with impunity, whatever 
they pleased concerning every public man. It was for opinion to do justice 
upon opinion itself; and it behooved all magistrates to defend themselves by 
their virtues against the truths and the calumnies of that day." — Thiers' 
History of the French Revolution. 



Computation of Time* 

Roman Numerals. 

In connection with this subject, it seems proper that some 
mention should be made of dates and numbers, such as are 
found in old books and MSS., and on ancient sculptures and 
monuments. The Roman numerals, with which we are all 
familiar, are |, V, X, L, Ci D, and M. Some of the others 
are rather more difficult to understand. 

When the Romans wrote several units, following each 
other, the first and last were longer than the rest, thus |||||| 
In ancient MSS. four is written MM, and not IV; nine thus 
Villi, and not IX, etc. Instead of V, &vq units ||J|| were 
sometimes used in the eighth century. Half was expressed 
by an S at the end of the figures, CMS was one hundred 
two and a half. This S sometimes appeared in the form of 
our 5. In some old MSS. the figures L X L are used to ex- 
press ninety. 

Q was sometimes used for 500, being the initial of Quin- 
genti. 

When O (a reversed C) is annexed to |Q, it makes the value 
ten times greater, and in like manner, the annexing of O, and 
prefixing of C, increases its value tenfold. It has the power 
of the cipher annexed to an Arabic numeral, and repeated. 

Thousands were also expressed by a small line drawn over 
any numeral, thus J signifies 1000; vTT 7000; LX 60,000; 
likewise M" 1,000,000; MM 2,000,000, etc. 

The Roman numerals were generally used in England, 
France, Italy, Germany, and Spain, from the earliest times, 
to the middle of the 15th century. 

"The College accounts in the English universities were 
generally kept in the Roman numerals till the early part of 
the sixteenth century ; nor in the parish registers were the 
Arabic characters adopted before the year 1600. The oldest 
date we have met with, in Scotland, is that of 1490, which 
occurs in the rent-roll of the diocese of St. Andrew's ; the 
change from Roman to Arabic numerals occurring, with a 
corresponding alteration in the form of writing, near the end 
of the volume." 1 

1 Encyclopaedia Britannica. 



Computation of lime. 

" With respect to the dates of charters, the use of Roman 
ciphers was universal in all countries ; but to avoid falling 
into error, it must be observed that in such dates, as well as 
those other muniments of France and Spain, the number for 
a thousand was sometimes omitted, the date beginning by 
hundreds ; in others, the thousands were set down, and the 
hundreds left out; and in latter ages both thousands and 
hundreds were alike suppressed, and people began with the 
tens, as if —78 was put for 1778, a practice still followed in 
letters, and in affairs of trifling consequence. 

" The numeral figures which have for some centuries pre- 
vailed in Europe are certainly Indian [East Indian]. The 
Arabians do not pretend to have been the inventors of them, 
but they ascribe their invention to the Indians, from whom 
they borrowed them. The numerals used by the Bramins, the 
Persians, the Arabians, and some other eastern nations are 
similar to each other, and the same characters were introduced 
into Europe, where they prevailed in the fifteenth century. 

"The learned Dr. Wallis, of Oxford, delivers it as his 
opinion that the Indian or Arabic numerals were brought 
into Europe, together with other Arabic learning, about the 
middle of the tenth century, if not sooner." 1 

"The Saxon dates" on the table " are taken from the Danish 
and Norwegian registers, preserved in Suhm's Northern Col- 
lections. 

" The oldest numerals are from a very curious Almanac, 
beautifully written on vellum, and belonging to the Univer- 
sity of Edinburgh. It is calculated especially for the year 
1492. 

"Fac-similes from Caxton's Mirrour of the Woild. Shir- 
wood's Ludus Arithmomachice, given in Dibdin's Bibliotheca 
Spenceriana." 2 

1 Astle's Origin and Progress of Writing — London, 1794. 
* Encyclopaedia Britannica. 



Computation of Time. 



ROMAN AND ARABIC NUMERALS, 



AS FORMERLY USED. 



Kll or IV 4 
ImlorV 5 
hmlorVI 6 

IIXorVIH 8 

IX or Villi 9 

X 10 



XX or* 20 

XXX or^ 30 

XXXXorXL40 
L 50 

LX 60 

L*orLXX 70 
XXC01-LXXX8O 



C 100 

CCCCcrCD 400 
DorborQ, 500 

DC or be 600 

DCCorlocc 700 
M or09orfHo:rCb or 
A\ or 00 or x 1.000 



OoLDorlillorlVcrXLOOcrCBOorCCCCD 4,000 
S7 cr QO or bo or L& or fo ork or ^<r or IjZ- 5,000 
X cr/gfo orA orXO or &Ai> orCClOO 10,000 

XV or dfckv orAk crCClOOlOO 15,000 

XXorMor V5b/Csb orCClOOCClOO 20.000 

L or IOOO or boo or Q30 50,000 

Corft or CCCIDOO orCCClOOO 100,000 

D or loooo or qooo 500,000 

M or CCCClOOOO 1,000,000 

3AXON NUMERALS. 

ivxtcbm COcccxcvm Tcccx^xuu Qx 

15 10 SO iOO 500 IOOO 1398 1334 & TO 



l?rotjres$ of European J\u?ncra/s 

\Z3 %<i 6 A $ 9 io oldest mss. 

1 2^59 VJ o'-'V 8 JM O $7iirwoocl t i48Z 
923^4^ / S 9 # OlclTrench. 

\1315 6? 8$ yfoidEtt 9 itit 



Variations' ofZZitrojjccin JVUmerats. 






7.^1ACV^AA 
fil JQT UQT Y32T lo 



°l%$ ZHZSltWoSartscy-i'l. ^08(lb ( \h'>i ^e?t f aiee. ) IT P#1 VAq I* Arabic. 

The above table is a compilation, from BoiS* 
SARD'S. ROMAN ANTIQUITIES,.the ENCYCLO- 
PAEDIA BRITANNICA.and memy other works, 
by Spencer BorasalL fhloCCClJkllX. 



NOTES ON SUNDRY CALENDARS. 

BY ALEXANDER WILCOCKS. 

The very interesting article by Mr. Spencer Bonsall on 
" Changes of Style in the Calendar" in Nos. 8 and 9 of this 
Magazine rather piques the curiosity of students of history 
and genealogy as to the character of other calendars which 
have had, or may still have, existence. 

On examining the fifty short chapters in which the subject 
of Calendars is treated by M. Francois Arago in his " Astro- 
nomie Populaire," one is rewarded by learning some valuable 
facts regarding them. 

Perhaps the most interesting of the non-Christian Calen- 
dars described by him, because of its superior accuracy, was 
that of Persia. 

The following is a translation of Mons. Arago's account of 
it as it appears in Chapter XIX. Book XXIII. 

The Persian Year in the Eleventh Century. 

The Persians had already adopted in the eleventh century 
an intercalation which brought their civil year very near to 
the astronomical one, and which maintained the equinoxes 
and the solstices upon the same days of the civil year. 

It was thus constituted: Three ordinary years of 365 
days were followed by a leap-year of 366 days, and this 
period of four years was repeated seven times. This was 
succeeded by a period in which the leap-year did not occur 
until after four ordinary years. 

Let us ask what length of year ensues from this mode of 
intercalation? Here is the answer:— 

The first seven periods form a total of 28 years, the eighth 
period comprises ^ve years, making a total of 33 years. 

Therefore, in 33 years the Persians intercalate 8 days. 



Notes on Sundry Calendars. 

onal p 
may be expressed thus, 



Hence the fractional part of the year beyond the 365 days 
8 days 



33 

8da ^ s = 0.2424 days. 
33 J 

10,000 years with the Persian mode of inter- 
calation comprise 3,652,424 ds 

10,000 astronomical years comprise . . 3,652,422 ds .64 

The difference is only 1^.36 

Between the civil year as amended by Gre- 
gory XIII. 1 and the astronomical year there is 
a difference of 2 d8 .36 

Thus it appears that the Persian mode of intercalation is 
superior in accuracy to the Gregorian Calendar now adopted 
by the greater part of Europe, and of the New World. 

In his " History of the French Bevolution" M. Thiers de- 
scribes the twelve months into which the year was divided 
by the Directory. He also tells us of the complementary 
days, and the " sans culotides ;" but about the manner in 
which the " Republican year" was made to keep pace with 
the astronomical year he says absolutely nothing. 

More strange still than the above is the fact that while M. 
Arago describes with minuteness so many different calendars, 
upon the above interesting point in the Republican Calendar 
he says as little as does M. Thiers. 

Upon one point only he enlarges, and thereon bases the re- 
flection, that as the exact day on which the autumnal equinox 
occurs was to be calculated upon the longitude of the meridian 
of Paris, the founders of the Republican Calendar might have 
been assured that national jealousy would certainly prevent 
the people of other countries from adopting it. 

In the "Atlas Universel d'Histoire et de Geographie," par 
M. K Bouillet, under the head of " Chronologie" may be 
found a short, but minute account of the Republican Calendar. 

The following is a translation of the article : — 

1 Astronomze Populatre, vol. iv. p. 688. 



Notes on Sundry Calendars. 

Republican Era. 

This era, the most recent of all, is also that which has lasted 
the shortest time. Established in France by a decree of the 
Convention on the 5th October, 1793, it had a retroactive 
commencement from the 22d Sept. 1792. 

As precedently, the ordinary years were to contain 365 days, 
those which contained 366 days were to be called sextiles (and 
not bisextiles). The difference consisted solely in the mode of 
intercalation. 

It was ordered that the year 3 should be sextile, that from 
this epoch each fourth year should be sextile until the year 
15 ; after which a 366th day should not be added till the year 
20. 

This sequence was to be repeated until the years 48 and 53 
of the era. Thereafter a cycle of 33 years should be con- 
formed to, in which every fourth year a sixth day called 
Spagomene (that is to say, intercalated) should be added, but 
in such a manner that after the seventh intercalation, no ad- 
dition should be made to the complementary days until the 
fifth year, when the 8th intercalation was to be made. 

Special decrees in the years 1793 and 1794 abolished this 
mode of intercalation, and ordered that the first day of the 
year should always be that of the autumnal equinox, which 
was to be ascertained each year by astronomical calculations. 

The duration of the Republican era was only 13 years and 
100 days. By a Senatus consultum of the 22d Fructidor in 
the year 13, the conservative senate abolished this institution, 
and the 10th Nivose of the year 14 was followed immediately 
by the 1st of January, 1806. 

In the preparation of the article " Chronologie" in the 
"Atlas" from which the above is translated, the Collaborator 
of Mons. Bouillet was Mons. Caillet. 

It will be observed that by the combined testimony of these 
two authorities, the mode of intercalation by which the Con- 
vention proposed to keep their civil year in coincidence with 
the astronomical year was absolutely identical with that 
adopted in Persia in the Eleventh Century. 



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Notes on Sundry Calendars. 

Another calendar described in detail by M. Arago is that 
of the Christian Church. All are familiar with the mode in 
which the time for the celebration of Easter was determined 
at the Council of Nice. 

M. Arago mentions a fact with which most persons are un- 
acquainted, viz., that " the paschal moon is a conventional 
moon ; and may arrive at its full one or two days before or 
after the true or mean astronomical moon." 

" Hence ensue frequent reclamations of the public, being 
unaware that the time of Easter is based upon the phases of 
a fictitious or imaginary moon, and not upon those of the 
real moon." "Astronomers are, therefore, taxed with igno- 
rance or carelessness for causing the celebration of Easter to 
take place a month after the proper time." 

There are other calendars and sundry eras described by M. 
Arago, which would repay perusal by those interested in such 
subjects. 

The same is true of the subject of Chronology as treated 
in the "Atlas d'Histoire et de Geographic" 



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